I woke up at 2 a.m. with cramps just as bad as they had been before. I laid there writhing on the bed for several minutes and then sprinted to the bathroom just in time. Diarrhea. It was back again but this time with a vengeance. I hobbled back to bed feeling completely and utterly miserable. I was supposed to be on vacation and enjoying myself and here I was at 2 o'clock in the morning practically crapping myself, and experiencing some horrible stomach pain. I squirmed around for a bit in the bed sweating a little bit and gritting my teeth against the horrible cramps until sweet sleep took me once again. I awoke several hours later around 8ish feeling quite a bit better but still not 100%. I was determined to make it on schedule to McCleary though and stomach problems weren't going to stop me. They did however. I continued to have horrible diarrhea and after discussing it with Alex we decided it wasn't worth risking a 9 hour drive. Now what? We were in Bonanza which is such a small town it literally takes about two minutes to drive through the whole of it, and I was sick. There was nothing for us to do. So guess what we did, just that, absolutely nothing at all and let me tell you it was utterly amazing.
Now, I don't work crazy hours at a ridiculously difficult job or anything, but I did have a very full plate this last semester between school, work, and volunteering and it left me pretty tired. I think doing nothing but lounging about with Alexandria was exactly what I needed to do. We laid in a bed for a bit, and then we moved to the couch, and the kitchen to eat, and after eating we went back to the couch and passed out. I think all the sleeping we were doing was making us tired. We'd wake up and visit with aunt as well as my uncle if he happened to be around and then go back to doing nothing but sitting with each other in pure bliss. Eventually we did go outside and look at my aunt's green house as well as her chicken coop to get some ideas for when we have place of our own, and then went straight back to the couch. We decided that we should do something but didn't quite know what to do when it occurred to us to go see a movie. We had just recently read The Great Gatsby and the movie had just come out so we settled on that after much deliberation. We went to the show around 6 o'clock I think it was. We had a bit of difficulty finding our way around Klamath Falls but eventually we did find the theater. It was the smallest theater I think I've ever been to and when we showed up we were the only people there. We got our tickets and then went and sat down and waited for the show to start. The movie was quite good and very similar to the book my only complaint is the music. I was expecting all this great roaring twenties music and instead my ears were greeted by the likes of Jay-Z. After the show we made our way back to Bonanza to enjoy a delicious home made dinner and some more visiting time with family.
That's about all that we did on our second day of vacation which as you can tell wasn't all that much. Also I must apologize you see I was a bit out of it at the time I got to experience all this nothingness so it's a bit of a struggle to recollect in a fascinating sort of way. I'm also currently not in it to win it which is why my writing really isn't all that swell but it still gives you a good idea of what we did which wasn't really anything at all.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
Washington...Finally!!!
Finally! I'm finally writing about my trip to Washington! It only took me a full week to get around to doing it! Now, don't get to excited I'm only going to write about the first couple of days but at least I'm starting. So, to begin the plan was to leave on the 13th of this month at around six in the morning and go to Klamath Falls, Oregon. We were going to stay the night in Klamath Falls and then get up in the morning and drive to McCleary, Washington were we would set up a sort of home base for the trip from which we venture forth and explore the great state of Washington for a whole entire week. Now, the trouble started on the morning we were going to leave.
It was around 5:45ish in the morning on the 13th when I awoke with terrible stomach pains that felt quite like cramps but were by far the worst cramps I had ever experienced. I rolled around for a bit trying to console my stomach into feeling better as if mindless motions the rest of my body made could affect it. Finally I decided that if my stomach wouldn't just cut it out and feel better on its own or with just a bit of help from my worm like writhing movements, that I would make it feel better. Dammit I was supposed to be going on vacation! I wearily dragged myself out of bed bleary eyed and dreading what was going to come next I forced myself to 'walk' although it was more of a blind stumble towards the toilet. This is it I told myself. I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and force myself to throw up and after that I'll feel all better. I honestly couldn't have been more wrong but I feel that my determination deserves at least a bit of noticing. I knelt down on the ground and gave my great porcelain cure a hug letting it's coolness bring me at least a little twinge betterment. I bowed my head over the bowl quite like someone at a guillotine whose resigned themselves to what's about to happen next, and I did it I forced my self to vomit. Now, I'll spare you the details because nobody likes to hear about throwing up and everyone already knows how dreadfully horrible it is. All I will say is that it was just as dreadful and just as horrible as one might expect.
After this horrible waking up I did feel a little bit better and a little more hopeful that perhaps this vacation wouldn't be so bad after all. Wrong, once again. "Are you throwing up?" Called my mother from her room. "Oh, We're golden!" I replied with more than a hint of sarcasm. I more limped back to bed than walked but I did make it back to my little sanctuary that cradled my sick body like a cloud sent from heaven. Naturally, after all the disgusting and loud noises I had made Alex came in to check on me and see how I felt. We laid together in bed for a bit while I tried to gather my strength and all the determination I had in my bones. Nothing was going to stop from going on vacation! The problem is that determination in the real world is nothing like the determination that you see in movies or read about in books. The kind where through hard work and determination a person can reach any goal imaginable. No this determination is the kind that makes you sit in a car for hours on end grabbing at your gut and trying to sleep through the pain. This determination makes you pull over on the side of a freeway so you can puke not only out your mouth but out of your nose as well because you're just that determined!
Once I had gathered all of this stupid determination we finally forced ourselves out of bed yet again. We skulked downstairs and I forced some food into my stomach though I didn't really feel like eating. I took a shower and crammed all of my toiletries into my luggage. I finished all the other last minute packing I had to do. Then finally we set off at around 8 2 hours behind our original schedule - not that I care for schedules much - and tired from my awful night of sleep we made our way out of the driveway. My stomach didn't stayed settled for very long though. About two hours into the trip I was fighting to keep my eyes open and my horrible stomach cramps started coming back. After about another 30 minutes the cramps were getting so bad it was all I could do to concentrated on the road. Defeated, I pulled over and asked Alex if she wouldn't mind driving. With all of her love coming through in her voice like a song she said, "No, I don't mind driving." Ordinary words, but at the time they formed the most glorious sentence I had ever heard. We switched seats and were off once again I curled up with a giant feather pillow that I hugged to try and comfort myself into sleep, while Alex drove on.
I awoke a while later with cramps that were even worse then the ones I had already experienced. Awesome, I thought this couldn't get any better. Oh, but it did. We were in Redding when it hit. I felt like I was going to have diarrhea. We took an exit and stopped at a gas station were I figured we could get some gas before continuing our journey from hell, and I could evacuate my bowels. Needless to say what occurred in that bathroom was a complete and utter horror and should probably never be talked about again. After this incident we hopped back in the car and continued on down the road. It was my turn to drive but seeing as how wasn't feeling well Alex continued to drive, and I continued to suffer through. I don't have much to say on what occurred between Redding and Weed California because I tried to sleep through most of it. Once we reached Weed I was feeling somewhat better so I decided I would try and drive once again. This didn't last long however because once we had been on the 97 towards Klamath Falls for just a little bit the cramps came back with a vengeance. I pulled over an told Alex I was going to get out and see if I could puke or go to the bathroom somewhere on the side of the road. I made a good effort but to no avail. I stumbled back towards the car extremely frustrated and feeling like death. I opened the back door and haphazardly lay down on all of the stuff we had brought with us utterly exhausted. This peaceful moment only lasted for a minute though. I jumped and leaned outside the car vomited not only out of my mouth but also out my nose. I proceeded to vomit not being able to catch my breath when finally I stopped and Alex handed me a napkin. I collapsed back into the backseat even more exhausted now that I had spent the last of my energy. Alex looked at me with growing concern on her face. "Your face is all red and so is your neck!?" I looked down at my arms and they were starting to turn read as well but didn't acknowledge it acting like it was just my body being exhausted. Then I started to notice how itchy my body was becoming everywhere. My arms became redder along with my face and neck and then I started noticing little bumps popping up every where. Oh God! I thought, this can not be good. We drove on now slightly concerned because it seemed I was having an allergic reaction to something. We called my mother who called my Aunt Linnea who said she would meet us in Klamath Falls and take me to prompt care. That was one hell of a car ride! My body was so itchy I wanted to rip my skin off! Anything would have been better than what I was experiencing! We finally made it to a park in Klamath Falls though where Linnea was waiting already armed with drugs, and liquids. We agreed I shouldn't take any medication until we got to prompt care because they might want to give me something in particular for situation. We once again took off following Linnea through the one way streets of Klamath. We got to prompt care and low and behold I had to fill out paperwork. Now, ordinarily I hate paperwork but on this particular occasion I absolutely despised it!
I could hardly focus with how itchy my skin was becoming. I had to try and fill out as much paperwork as possible in between stints of scratching my skin raw. I took the papers up to the front desk and it wasn't quite good enough the first time so they told me what I needed to fix and sent me back to my seat. The second time I had still done a pretty terrible job but they accepted my feeble attempts, I think it's because they could hear the growing distress in my voice. I slumped back into my seat scratching wildly. I got up and went to the bathroom to scratch some of the more hard to reach places in privacy and finally came back out a few minutes later and just as itchy as ever. "Dallas Rhinehart?" I heard a nurse call as she opened the door. Finally! I was going to get something done about my body's mental breakdown. She led me to the back her long hair curling over her pink scrubs like a golden sea. She didn't take very long to decide that I was breaking out in full blown hives. I explained that I figured I was having an allergic reaction but that it was strange because I had also been having stomach problems all day long. She acknowledged that this was strange but then left saying the doctor would be in in a bit. I laid back on the bed figuring I might as well attempt to make myself comfortable while I waited. I stared at the ceiling wondering in the world could possibly make my body act like this and trying to scratch myself senseless. Finally the doctor came in he was an older gentleman bald with a sort of goatee and glasses hanging from his neck bouncing off his blue scrubs like one of those paddle ball games. He asked me all the same questions the nurse had asked me about if I'd been hiking around or exploring anywhere. I told I hadn't and that I had literally just been sitting in the car all day long, as well as telling him about the stomach troubles that had accompanied me on my travels.
Now, this doctor told me in a quite confident voice that I was having an allergic reaction and said he would give me some Benadryl to get rid of my hives. On the subject of my stomach trouble he said that it could be from the ulcers I had once. Mind you I had these ulcers in the year of 2010 and I haven't had sort of issues since but he stuck firm by his diagnoses and said he would write me a prescription for some drug that I don't remember and bowed out to get the Benadryl. Suffice it to say that I was a little frustrated with this diagnoses partly because my aunt already had Benadryl, and partly because I knew my stomach troubles weren't related to my ulcers. Also, I had to pay 123 dollars to be told something I already knew. I couldn't just pay my copay because it was my first time at this prompt care and because I was from out of state. The doctor returned a little while later gave me my Benadryl and sent me on my way.
We all decided we would stop at the grocery store to get some food and some Zantac because said that it might help with my stomach as well as my rash.We all meandered around the grocery store for a bit getting the Zantac and my aunt kept asking me if there was anything at all that I would like to get because she was making roast for dinner and she thought it might upset my stomach. She kept apologizing but I insisted that I thought it would be delicious. We left the store and headed for Bonanza which is about 30 minutes outside of Klamath Falls and also where my uncle and my aunt own about 5000 acres of land that they farm and raise cattle on. I'm not really for the agricultural revolution or mass farming but I do have to admit that Bonanza Oregon is one of the prettiest places I have ever been. We sped towards Bonanza as I tried to recognize some of the familiar landmarks from the summer I had spent working up with my uncle on his ranch. As we got closer and closer I started to recognize more I was able to predict which turns we would take on what roads, and point out the upcoming dairy farm. We finally started passing by some of my families property and I was able to point out a mile long field that I had to disc multiple times, and then finally we took a left turn onto a dirt driveway that led to the house we would be staying in we had made it! We parked in the driveway and walked into the house with a feeling of ecstasy crawling over our bodies. We had finally made it! We walked through the front door and I saw a giant couch that looked more comfortable than any other couch I've ever seen. I collapsed into it with the biggest stupidest grin on my face.
I spent the rest of the evening in a daze finding it impossible to focus or even think clear thoughts partly due to exhaustion. We visited with my aunt and Alex got to meet my Uncle Randy, as well as my Cousin Lacy. Then at around 9 o'clock I actually put some real food into my stomach and eventually I was able to change into pajamas and collapse into bed and quite possibly the best sleep I have ever had. Until early the next morning...
It was around 5:45ish in the morning on the 13th when I awoke with terrible stomach pains that felt quite like cramps but were by far the worst cramps I had ever experienced. I rolled around for a bit trying to console my stomach into feeling better as if mindless motions the rest of my body made could affect it. Finally I decided that if my stomach wouldn't just cut it out and feel better on its own or with just a bit of help from my worm like writhing movements, that I would make it feel better. Dammit I was supposed to be going on vacation! I wearily dragged myself out of bed bleary eyed and dreading what was going to come next I forced myself to 'walk' although it was more of a blind stumble towards the toilet. This is it I told myself. I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and force myself to throw up and after that I'll feel all better. I honestly couldn't have been more wrong but I feel that my determination deserves at least a bit of noticing. I knelt down on the ground and gave my great porcelain cure a hug letting it's coolness bring me at least a little twinge betterment. I bowed my head over the bowl quite like someone at a guillotine whose resigned themselves to what's about to happen next, and I did it I forced my self to vomit. Now, I'll spare you the details because nobody likes to hear about throwing up and everyone already knows how dreadfully horrible it is. All I will say is that it was just as dreadful and just as horrible as one might expect.
After this horrible waking up I did feel a little bit better and a little more hopeful that perhaps this vacation wouldn't be so bad after all. Wrong, once again. "Are you throwing up?" Called my mother from her room. "Oh, We're golden!" I replied with more than a hint of sarcasm. I more limped back to bed than walked but I did make it back to my little sanctuary that cradled my sick body like a cloud sent from heaven. Naturally, after all the disgusting and loud noises I had made Alex came in to check on me and see how I felt. We laid together in bed for a bit while I tried to gather my strength and all the determination I had in my bones. Nothing was going to stop from going on vacation! The problem is that determination in the real world is nothing like the determination that you see in movies or read about in books. The kind where through hard work and determination a person can reach any goal imaginable. No this determination is the kind that makes you sit in a car for hours on end grabbing at your gut and trying to sleep through the pain. This determination makes you pull over on the side of a freeway so you can puke not only out your mouth but out of your nose as well because you're just that determined!
Once I had gathered all of this stupid determination we finally forced ourselves out of bed yet again. We skulked downstairs and I forced some food into my stomach though I didn't really feel like eating. I took a shower and crammed all of my toiletries into my luggage. I finished all the other last minute packing I had to do. Then finally we set off at around 8 2 hours behind our original schedule - not that I care for schedules much - and tired from my awful night of sleep we made our way out of the driveway. My stomach didn't stayed settled for very long though. About two hours into the trip I was fighting to keep my eyes open and my horrible stomach cramps started coming back. After about another 30 minutes the cramps were getting so bad it was all I could do to concentrated on the road. Defeated, I pulled over and asked Alex if she wouldn't mind driving. With all of her love coming through in her voice like a song she said, "No, I don't mind driving." Ordinary words, but at the time they formed the most glorious sentence I had ever heard. We switched seats and were off once again I curled up with a giant feather pillow that I hugged to try and comfort myself into sleep, while Alex drove on.
I awoke a while later with cramps that were even worse then the ones I had already experienced. Awesome, I thought this couldn't get any better. Oh, but it did. We were in Redding when it hit. I felt like I was going to have diarrhea. We took an exit and stopped at a gas station were I figured we could get some gas before continuing our journey from hell, and I could evacuate my bowels. Needless to say what occurred in that bathroom was a complete and utter horror and should probably never be talked about again. After this incident we hopped back in the car and continued on down the road. It was my turn to drive but seeing as how wasn't feeling well Alex continued to drive, and I continued to suffer through. I don't have much to say on what occurred between Redding and Weed California because I tried to sleep through most of it. Once we reached Weed I was feeling somewhat better so I decided I would try and drive once again. This didn't last long however because once we had been on the 97 towards Klamath Falls for just a little bit the cramps came back with a vengeance. I pulled over an told Alex I was going to get out and see if I could puke or go to the bathroom somewhere on the side of the road. I made a good effort but to no avail. I stumbled back towards the car extremely frustrated and feeling like death. I opened the back door and haphazardly lay down on all of the stuff we had brought with us utterly exhausted. This peaceful moment only lasted for a minute though. I jumped and leaned outside the car vomited not only out of my mouth but also out my nose. I proceeded to vomit not being able to catch my breath when finally I stopped and Alex handed me a napkin. I collapsed back into the backseat even more exhausted now that I had spent the last of my energy. Alex looked at me with growing concern on her face. "Your face is all red and so is your neck!?" I looked down at my arms and they were starting to turn read as well but didn't acknowledge it acting like it was just my body being exhausted. Then I started to notice how itchy my body was becoming everywhere. My arms became redder along with my face and neck and then I started noticing little bumps popping up every where. Oh God! I thought, this can not be good. We drove on now slightly concerned because it seemed I was having an allergic reaction to something. We called my mother who called my Aunt Linnea who said she would meet us in Klamath Falls and take me to prompt care. That was one hell of a car ride! My body was so itchy I wanted to rip my skin off! Anything would have been better than what I was experiencing! We finally made it to a park in Klamath Falls though where Linnea was waiting already armed with drugs, and liquids. We agreed I shouldn't take any medication until we got to prompt care because they might want to give me something in particular for situation. We once again took off following Linnea through the one way streets of Klamath. We got to prompt care and low and behold I had to fill out paperwork. Now, ordinarily I hate paperwork but on this particular occasion I absolutely despised it!
I could hardly focus with how itchy my skin was becoming. I had to try and fill out as much paperwork as possible in between stints of scratching my skin raw. I took the papers up to the front desk and it wasn't quite good enough the first time so they told me what I needed to fix and sent me back to my seat. The second time I had still done a pretty terrible job but they accepted my feeble attempts, I think it's because they could hear the growing distress in my voice. I slumped back into my seat scratching wildly. I got up and went to the bathroom to scratch some of the more hard to reach places in privacy and finally came back out a few minutes later and just as itchy as ever. "Dallas Rhinehart?" I heard a nurse call as she opened the door. Finally! I was going to get something done about my body's mental breakdown. She led me to the back her long hair curling over her pink scrubs like a golden sea. She didn't take very long to decide that I was breaking out in full blown hives. I explained that I figured I was having an allergic reaction but that it was strange because I had also been having stomach problems all day long. She acknowledged that this was strange but then left saying the doctor would be in in a bit. I laid back on the bed figuring I might as well attempt to make myself comfortable while I waited. I stared at the ceiling wondering in the world could possibly make my body act like this and trying to scratch myself senseless. Finally the doctor came in he was an older gentleman bald with a sort of goatee and glasses hanging from his neck bouncing off his blue scrubs like one of those paddle ball games. He asked me all the same questions the nurse had asked me about if I'd been hiking around or exploring anywhere. I told I hadn't and that I had literally just been sitting in the car all day long, as well as telling him about the stomach troubles that had accompanied me on my travels.
Now, this doctor told me in a quite confident voice that I was having an allergic reaction and said he would give me some Benadryl to get rid of my hives. On the subject of my stomach trouble he said that it could be from the ulcers I had once. Mind you I had these ulcers in the year of 2010 and I haven't had sort of issues since but he stuck firm by his diagnoses and said he would write me a prescription for some drug that I don't remember and bowed out to get the Benadryl. Suffice it to say that I was a little frustrated with this diagnoses partly because my aunt already had Benadryl, and partly because I knew my stomach troubles weren't related to my ulcers. Also, I had to pay 123 dollars to be told something I already knew. I couldn't just pay my copay because it was my first time at this prompt care and because I was from out of state. The doctor returned a little while later gave me my Benadryl and sent me on my way.
We all decided we would stop at the grocery store to get some food and some Zantac because said that it might help with my stomach as well as my rash.We all meandered around the grocery store for a bit getting the Zantac and my aunt kept asking me if there was anything at all that I would like to get because she was making roast for dinner and she thought it might upset my stomach. She kept apologizing but I insisted that I thought it would be delicious. We left the store and headed for Bonanza which is about 30 minutes outside of Klamath Falls and also where my uncle and my aunt own about 5000 acres of land that they farm and raise cattle on. I'm not really for the agricultural revolution or mass farming but I do have to admit that Bonanza Oregon is one of the prettiest places I have ever been. We sped towards Bonanza as I tried to recognize some of the familiar landmarks from the summer I had spent working up with my uncle on his ranch. As we got closer and closer I started to recognize more I was able to predict which turns we would take on what roads, and point out the upcoming dairy farm. We finally started passing by some of my families property and I was able to point out a mile long field that I had to disc multiple times, and then finally we took a left turn onto a dirt driveway that led to the house we would be staying in we had made it! We parked in the driveway and walked into the house with a feeling of ecstasy crawling over our bodies. We had finally made it! We walked through the front door and I saw a giant couch that looked more comfortable than any other couch I've ever seen. I collapsed into it with the biggest stupidest grin on my face.
I spent the rest of the evening in a daze finding it impossible to focus or even think clear thoughts partly due to exhaustion. We visited with my aunt and Alex got to meet my Uncle Randy, as well as my Cousin Lacy. Then at around 9 o'clock I actually put some real food into my stomach and eventually I was able to change into pajamas and collapse into bed and quite possibly the best sleep I have ever had. Until early the next morning...
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Catching Up
Hello there! I realize that I haven't written anything in over a week and for that I apologize but you see I've been busy. I realize that being busy is quite an unexciting excuse for not writing and I will admit that it is pretty weak but I was actually doing interesting things that will be talked about in later posts. You see, I went on a road trip with my astonishingly beautiful girlfriend to Washington. We left on the 13th around 8 a.m. and returned home on the 20th around 7 p.m. It was quite a fun trip and I can't wait to write about all of the fascinating things we got to experience and I will try to post about the first day or two tomorrow. I would have done it today but I'm still trying to adjust to a normal nights sleep after taking my dear friend Jordan to the airport at 2 a.m. yesterday and I overslept today, you have my apologies people of the internet. In other news while in Portland I got another Daniel Quinn book called The Story of B and have just finished reading it today and I have to say it quite literally shattered my worldview all over again quite the same way that Ishmael did and I will have to write about some of the thoughts that I inspired me to think in hopes that writing them down will help me develop them into fully formed ideas. Now, I must go for my love is having stomach troubles and I feel the need to love her back to health but hopefully I can get caught up on my writing at least a little bit tomorrow for now goodnight.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Reading
Hi, it's me again. With my lovely lady out of town for a couple of days and my book that I checked out from the library I have managed to read away many hours of today. I'm currently reading My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and I've got to say it's truly an amazing book. I wouldn't say it's of any different quality of the original Ishmael I would just say that it manages to address some different topics with some different approaches. When I originally read Ishmael it completely altered my view of the world, I mean to say that it resonated with the very deepest parts of my soul and shook the cob webs that had been obstructing my view of the world from my eyes. My Ishmael is currently doing exactly the same thing and it is utterly fantastic. It is also however quite tiring. You see these books are not for the faint of heart the cover some very heavy and deep material that isn't meant to be read passively for enjoyment but rather actively read and digested so that the information can be used to change a person. Due to how heavy this book is and how tired I am as well as the fact that I haven't finished it quite yet I don't feel justified in writing any sort of objective review or anything like that at the moment. I will most likely talk about the ideas in the book in later post though still not as a subject review or anything just as thoughts and ideas that the book has inspired me to think. I wish I could write more but my body is exhausted in its entirety and therefore I shall go to bed goodnight.
Today
Hi there,
It's me again and I haven't got much to say but I figured I should write anyway. Yesterday I discovered the most amazing thing I've ever discovered! Now you might be wondering what is this magical things so I'll tell you. It was the library! Now someone might read this and think well what's so great about a library and why did you just discover it so I suppose I should explain that as well. You see I've known about libraries ever since I was a child and quite like most children I thought it was a great place but no one ever explained just how amazing it actually is which is especially unfortunate considering I love to read, but yesterday I went and discovered for myself just how wonderful the library truly is and I suppose discovering it for myself made it even more amazing then if someone had simply plopped me down and told me it was amazing. I went to the library with the intention of simply getting a library card because in my 19 years of life I've never had my own library card and after reading an article on artofmanliness that mentioned in passing the free resources one could attain through the library, and given my hunger for learning I figured I should get a library card. So on I went with my beautiful girlfriend Alexandria to the library and I walked in and to be honest at first it wasn't much different than I remembered it nothing fanciful or wonderful about it other than the smell of books which I happen to love, especially old well read books. Then we started walking around not really with any purpose just sort of meandering through the collection of knowledge with some sort of inkling of looking for The Great Gatsby but not really a hard and fast search for the book. I was just breathing in the smell of dust riddled pages, and soaking in the signs labeled philosophy, art, and all other sort of words. These signs hung from the ceiling and above different bookcases almost like lighthouses beckoning you to your desired shore. The shore we desired to find happened to be fiction which given its tremendous size was quite easy to find but also given my limited knowledge of how the library works a little overwhelming to navigate. So there we were delighted to have found the fiction section but a little lost on how to find the precise treasure we were looking for. We started meandering the aisles in a somewhat orderly fashion just skimming the books and hoping we'd just find the one we were looking for by pure happenstance when I started noticing that all of the books had tiny white tags on the bottom of their spines almost like a tattoo. Now these white tags had but only six letter printed upon them in two rows of three stacked on top of each other in all capital letters and a very squarish robotic looking font and the top three letters on all of the books were identical FIC. It didn't take much of a leap to figure out that these letters stood for fiction which was the shore we had landed on while drifting in the sea of knowledge that is known as the library. But what about the other three letters these were the same on books that were next to each other but then changed through the alphabet as you moved down the aisles. Once again it didn't take long before I realized that these corresponded to the authors of the books with the three letters being the first three letters of the authors last name. This may seem a fanciful way of explaining something so ordinary but to me it wasn't ordinary like I said I've never really gotten to experience the library in all of its fullness and I'm simply recounting the event with all the wonderment I beheld upon actually experiencing it. Once I figure out how the books were organized the search was on to discover our treasure, The Great Gatsby. We walked through the aisles at a much brisker pace then before now that we had a way of attaining what we were actually hunting down all we had to do was simply skim of over the black and white tattoos on the books spines every once and a while to ensure that we were headed the right way. DEF, EAC, FIC we had made it to the F's! Now all we had to do was close in on our prize. Skimming the spines of the books in silence with eyes somewhat squinted in pure concentration we saw the name we had been looking for Fitzgerald. There weren't as many books with this name on their spines as I had expected there to be but all the same it only made the search easier but then to soon the search was over we had look at the whole section and not seen The Great Gatsby. But how could this be it's an entirely famous book by an entirely famous author if you can't get such a book at the library where can you get one? So, we looked a second time, and a third, and we even halfheartedly skimmed the section a fourth time but there was nothing to discover it simply wasn't there. Well we had come all this way and the search had been so enjoyable I thought why not look for another book and this time I decided to search for The Story of B by Daniel Quinn. You see I've been wanting to read this book for over a year ever since I read Ishmael and it changed my life but despite my want for the book I couldn't quite separate myself from the sum of cash that was required to purchase it and none of my friends had even heard of it so I couldn't borrow a copy from someone. Here we are though I thought to myself perhaps the have a copy I can read for free so we searched for the QUI section in the FIC section and discovered that there was only one Daniel Quinn book. This time it didn't take looking three times to come to grips with the fact that the library didn't have the book I so desperately wanted I simply accepted the fact as it was. After this disappointment though I figured it was time to get my library card and see if perhaps they did have the books that we wanted so bad and perhaps we just hadn't seen them so head hanging low we walked to the counter in one last attempt to get what we wanted and it is here that my amazement really took hold. The nice lady at the desk was like an oracle able to attain any book with any piece of knowledge in it that you could ever desire! As I was signing up for my card she explained that they could get The Great Gatsby from one of their other branches and put it on hold for us and they would email me to let me know when it was available. She also sent me to another desk to request The Story of B because it wasn't in any of their libraries but they told me the would request it from another library and they would call me when it came in which would be in about three to four weeks. While they were explaining all of this and I was walking back and forth between the desks I started to notice even more of the details that made up the library such as all the amazing seating furniture they had they had dozens of couches and chairs and every single one of them looked so comfortable that it seemed almost dangerous to sit in them for fear of not ever being able to get back the cloud like hug that you would surely receive upon sitting down. I also noticed that there was free coffee and creamer being offered as if to say it's alright just have your cup of Joe and sit down relax and enjoy yourself and bury yourself deep into a book, it was almost to much to resist. As is if all this wasn't enough I noticed a huge book on tape section as well as a movie section filled with classic movies that seemed so good I can't believe we ever kept making movies after them for surely they can't be improved upon. The books on tape section is important because for those of you who haven't tried it's quite like watching a movie except you're given the script and characters but you get to direct it and choose what everything looks and feels like through the power of your mind. Finally I noticed the magazine section which was less impressive than everything else I'll admit but still wonderful considering all the magazines you could read on a monthly basis without ever having to pay for a subscription. Finally though I had to leave this wonderful magnificent place for I had a job to get to so I begrudgingly pulled myself away I know I'll return though, for I have to because I checked out my very first book My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn for those of you interested. This my friends is the story of how I got to discover the library which you get to read all because the love of my life is out of town and I feel lost without her and don't know what to quite do with myself. Quick Alex come back before the internet has to be dragged through another story!
It's me again and I haven't got much to say but I figured I should write anyway. Yesterday I discovered the most amazing thing I've ever discovered! Now you might be wondering what is this magical things so I'll tell you. It was the library! Now someone might read this and think well what's so great about a library and why did you just discover it so I suppose I should explain that as well. You see I've known about libraries ever since I was a child and quite like most children I thought it was a great place but no one ever explained just how amazing it actually is which is especially unfortunate considering I love to read, but yesterday I went and discovered for myself just how wonderful the library truly is and I suppose discovering it for myself made it even more amazing then if someone had simply plopped me down and told me it was amazing. I went to the library with the intention of simply getting a library card because in my 19 years of life I've never had my own library card and after reading an article on artofmanliness that mentioned in passing the free resources one could attain through the library, and given my hunger for learning I figured I should get a library card. So on I went with my beautiful girlfriend Alexandria to the library and I walked in and to be honest at first it wasn't much different than I remembered it nothing fanciful or wonderful about it other than the smell of books which I happen to love, especially old well read books. Then we started walking around not really with any purpose just sort of meandering through the collection of knowledge with some sort of inkling of looking for The Great Gatsby but not really a hard and fast search for the book. I was just breathing in the smell of dust riddled pages, and soaking in the signs labeled philosophy, art, and all other sort of words. These signs hung from the ceiling and above different bookcases almost like lighthouses beckoning you to your desired shore. The shore we desired to find happened to be fiction which given its tremendous size was quite easy to find but also given my limited knowledge of how the library works a little overwhelming to navigate. So there we were delighted to have found the fiction section but a little lost on how to find the precise treasure we were looking for. We started meandering the aisles in a somewhat orderly fashion just skimming the books and hoping we'd just find the one we were looking for by pure happenstance when I started noticing that all of the books had tiny white tags on the bottom of their spines almost like a tattoo. Now these white tags had but only six letter printed upon them in two rows of three stacked on top of each other in all capital letters and a very squarish robotic looking font and the top three letters on all of the books were identical FIC. It didn't take much of a leap to figure out that these letters stood for fiction which was the shore we had landed on while drifting in the sea of knowledge that is known as the library. But what about the other three letters these were the same on books that were next to each other but then changed through the alphabet as you moved down the aisles. Once again it didn't take long before I realized that these corresponded to the authors of the books with the three letters being the first three letters of the authors last name. This may seem a fanciful way of explaining something so ordinary but to me it wasn't ordinary like I said I've never really gotten to experience the library in all of its fullness and I'm simply recounting the event with all the wonderment I beheld upon actually experiencing it. Once I figure out how the books were organized the search was on to discover our treasure, The Great Gatsby. We walked through the aisles at a much brisker pace then before now that we had a way of attaining what we were actually hunting down all we had to do was simply skim of over the black and white tattoos on the books spines every once and a while to ensure that we were headed the right way. DEF, EAC, FIC we had made it to the F's! Now all we had to do was close in on our prize. Skimming the spines of the books in silence with eyes somewhat squinted in pure concentration we saw the name we had been looking for Fitzgerald. There weren't as many books with this name on their spines as I had expected there to be but all the same it only made the search easier but then to soon the search was over we had look at the whole section and not seen The Great Gatsby. But how could this be it's an entirely famous book by an entirely famous author if you can't get such a book at the library where can you get one? So, we looked a second time, and a third, and we even halfheartedly skimmed the section a fourth time but there was nothing to discover it simply wasn't there. Well we had come all this way and the search had been so enjoyable I thought why not look for another book and this time I decided to search for The Story of B by Daniel Quinn. You see I've been wanting to read this book for over a year ever since I read Ishmael and it changed my life but despite my want for the book I couldn't quite separate myself from the sum of cash that was required to purchase it and none of my friends had even heard of it so I couldn't borrow a copy from someone. Here we are though I thought to myself perhaps the have a copy I can read for free so we searched for the QUI section in the FIC section and discovered that there was only one Daniel Quinn book. This time it didn't take looking three times to come to grips with the fact that the library didn't have the book I so desperately wanted I simply accepted the fact as it was. After this disappointment though I figured it was time to get my library card and see if perhaps they did have the books that we wanted so bad and perhaps we just hadn't seen them so head hanging low we walked to the counter in one last attempt to get what we wanted and it is here that my amazement really took hold. The nice lady at the desk was like an oracle able to attain any book with any piece of knowledge in it that you could ever desire! As I was signing up for my card she explained that they could get The Great Gatsby from one of their other branches and put it on hold for us and they would email me to let me know when it was available. She also sent me to another desk to request The Story of B because it wasn't in any of their libraries but they told me the would request it from another library and they would call me when it came in which would be in about three to four weeks. While they were explaining all of this and I was walking back and forth between the desks I started to notice even more of the details that made up the library such as all the amazing seating furniture they had they had dozens of couches and chairs and every single one of them looked so comfortable that it seemed almost dangerous to sit in them for fear of not ever being able to get back the cloud like hug that you would surely receive upon sitting down. I also noticed that there was free coffee and creamer being offered as if to say it's alright just have your cup of Joe and sit down relax and enjoy yourself and bury yourself deep into a book, it was almost to much to resist. As is if all this wasn't enough I noticed a huge book on tape section as well as a movie section filled with classic movies that seemed so good I can't believe we ever kept making movies after them for surely they can't be improved upon. The books on tape section is important because for those of you who haven't tried it's quite like watching a movie except you're given the script and characters but you get to direct it and choose what everything looks and feels like through the power of your mind. Finally I noticed the magazine section which was less impressive than everything else I'll admit but still wonderful considering all the magazines you could read on a monthly basis without ever having to pay for a subscription. Finally though I had to leave this wonderful magnificent place for I had a job to get to so I begrudgingly pulled myself away I know I'll return though, for I have to because I checked out my very first book My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn for those of you interested. This my friends is the story of how I got to discover the library which you get to read all because the love of my life is out of town and I feel lost without her and don't know what to quite do with myself. Quick Alex come back before the internet has to be dragged through another story!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Hello World!
Hello there,
This is my very first post on my new blog that I've just spent a good two hours setting up. I realize that not many people will ever see this blog or read it but I haven't created it with others in mind. You see I created this blog for myself so that I would have a place where I can rant, ramble, and rave about whatever is on my mind whenever I like whether it's at three a.m. or lunch time. This blog will be mine and I hope to keep it though all the ups and downs of life so that one day my children and my grandchildren can look it up with some high tech gizmo and read a little about what I thought and felt way back in the dinosaur days of blogs. With this information I must bid you goodnight oh great internet for I am tired and have a new book by Daniel Quinn that I want to start reading.
-Dallas
This is my very first post on my new blog that I've just spent a good two hours setting up. I realize that not many people will ever see this blog or read it but I haven't created it with others in mind. You see I created this blog for myself so that I would have a place where I can rant, ramble, and rave about whatever is on my mind whenever I like whether it's at three a.m. or lunch time. This blog will be mine and I hope to keep it though all the ups and downs of life so that one day my children and my grandchildren can look it up with some high tech gizmo and read a little about what I thought and felt way back in the dinosaur days of blogs. With this information I must bid you goodnight oh great internet for I am tired and have a new book by Daniel Quinn that I want to start reading.
-Dallas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)